African and European
Clinic of Trichology

How Hair Grows

The human hair cycle happens in four stages

1. Anagen: the growing stage - the length of the active growing stage depends on whether you are male or female and the individual. Women grow their hair longer because of the levels of hormones (oestrogen) they produce
   
   
2. Catagen: the transitional stage - this catagen phase last between 2 to 4 weeks in the human scalp at its regressive phase. The follicles then stop producing hair before the resting phase begins.
   
   
3. Telogen: the resting stage - where it stops growing for a couple of months before falling out. We lose roughly about eighty stands a day but may vary at times.
   
   
4. The fourth growth cycle is called exogen, which is the result of a new anagen cycle.

Hair growth depends on age, race, medication, genetic and/or season. The growth cycle can be interrupted by adverse effects such as injury to the body or surgery, poor diet, medication, lack of exercise, pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, smoking, alcohol and hormones causes one of the biggest problems when it comes to hair loss.

Externally hair is at risk from chemicals and washing the hair with the wrong shampoo and conditioners the chemical additives within them can injure hair, brushing can also hurt the hair and using the wrong combs, certain hairstyles that can lead to long-term damage and self-inflicting habits for example pulling of the hair.

Once you understand how your hair grows, you will begin to understand why for some women it stops growing. Hair thinning is usually caused by a short anagen phase and a long telogen phase, which eventually leads to the hair follicle shutting down completely and putting an end to the growth cycle. Women who experience thinning hair also have follicles, which shrink as a result of changes in the hormone levels, resulting in finer hair.